Secrecy out of place in water quality tests

[1st, May 2014]Iowans are clamoring for improvements in our water quality, while our lakes take in more nutrients every year and are covered with algae. The state response was a nutrient reduction plan that was heavily influenced by the Iowa Farm Bureau with almost no input from conservation groups…

The Iowa Legislature, no doubt heavily lobbied by the Farm Bureau, pork producers and corn growers, has decided that any measurements of water quality done with state money will be confidential information — supposedly to protect farmers’ privacy.

The law already protects farmers’ privacy. This confidentiality move is protecting much bigger interest groups, such as the Iowa Department of Agriculture, the Department of Natural Resources and the governor’s failure to comply with the 1972 Clean Water Act.